Boat docking device

ABSTRACT

An elongated handle having gripping means at one end and hook means at the opposite end is provided with a locking pulley device adjacent the hook end which may be selectively operated to a first position allowing free passage of a brake therethrough and a second position wherein the rope will be frictionally wrapped upon itself to prevent passage of the rope therethrough. One end of the rope is adapted to be secured to a cleat on a boat and the hook is adapted to be secured to a dock whereby upon pulling the opposite end of the rope with the locking pulley device in the first position, the slack may be taken up to draw the boat to the dock and upon operating the pulley device to the second position, the boat will be securely held relative to the dock.

United States Patent 1 DAgostinn, Jr.

1 Aug. 7, 1973 [52] US. Cl. 114/221, 188/654 [51] Int. Cl B63b 21/04 [58] Field of Search 114/221, 230, 299;

24/132 R, 132 FE, 132 HL; 294/78 R, 83 R, 84; 254/150, 188; 188/654; 182/5, ,6, 7

[56] References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 3,340,964 9/l967 Glover 188/654 946,588 l/19l0 Thuener 188/654 Attorney Richard CQSughrue, Robert V. Sloan et al.

[5 7 ABSTRACT An elongated handle having gripping means at one end and hook means at the opposite end is provided with a locking pulley device adjacent the hook endwhich may be selectively operated to a first position allowing free passage of a brake therethrough and a second position wherein the rope will be frictionally wrapped upon itself to prevent passage of the rope therethrough. One end of the rope is adapted to be secured to a cleat on a boat and the hook is adapted to be secured to a dock whereby upon pulling the opposite end of the rope with the locking pulley device in the first position, the slack may be taken up to draw the boat to the dock and upon operating the pulley device to the second position, the boat will be securely held relative to the dock.

6 Claims, 5 Drawing Figures BOAT DOCKING DEVICE BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION 1. Field of the Invention The present invention is directed to a boat docking device and more particularly to a device adapted to engage a dock and facilitate the drawing ofa boat toward the dock for securement thereto.

2. Prior Art For many centuries the art of docking a boat has proved to be an extremely risky and hazardous operation which often resulted in damage to the boat or dock and more importantly often resulted in death or injury to the person attempting to accomplish the docking operation. As a boat would approach the dock, a crew, if one was available, would often jump from the deck of the boat to the dock with a mooring rope and then proceed to pull the boat into close engagement with the dock prior to securing the boat to a suitable snubbing means on the dock. At other times, a crew might remain in the boat while reaching out at a very precarious angle to grasp an object on the dock and physically draw the boat toward the dock. If a person is operating a boat alone, it always proves to be an extremely difficult operation, since the operator could not adequately control the boat while attempting to make contact with the dock and secure the boat thereto. It is obvious that in all of these situations the danger to both life and property is greatly increased in rough weather so that a person attempting to dock a boat often ended up in the water while the boat itself would be dashed against the dock.

In the past, people have utilized boat hooks to engage the dock and pull the boat toward the dock. However, such an operation still entailed the additional operation of tying up the boat to the dock once the boat is drawn to the dock and it often proved to. be a hazardous operation when a single person attempted to handle the boat hook and the mooring line simultaneously.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION The present invention is directed to a boat docking device which is safe and efficient in use and economical to produce.

The present invention provides a boat docking device which can readily be handled by a single person from the safety of the boat without risking injury to the person or damage to the boat.

The present invention is directed to a boat docking device which is comprised of an elongated rod having a hook or other suitable gripping means at one end thereof for engagement with a post or a ring on a dock. A line controlling device is located intermediate the ends of the rod and is comprised ofa supporting framework having a rotatable disc joumaled therein. At least two pulleys are secured to the rotatable disc and the line is entrained thereabouts in a serpentine fashion with both ends of the line meeting toward the end of the rod opposite the end having the hook means. A lever is secured to the disc for rotating the same from a first position wherein the line may freely pass over the pulleys and a second position wherein the line is looked upon itself to prevent movement of the line through the line control device.

The foregoing and other objects, features and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following more particular description of preferred embodiments of the invention as illustrated in the accompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS FIG. 1 is a plan view of the device according to the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a partial view similar to FIG. 1 with the cover removed and the pulleys arranged for free running of the rope.

FIG. 3 is a view similar to FIG. 2 showing the pulleys arranged for locking the rope therein.

FIG. 4 is a cross-section view taken along the line 4-4 in FIG. 2.

FIG. 5 is a view similar to FIGS. 2 and 3 showing a two pulley arrangement with the rope in unlocked condition in solid lines and in locked condition in phantom lines.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION The device shown in FIG. 1 is comprised of an elongated rod or pole 10 having suitable handle grip means 12 secured to one end thereof. At the opposite end of the pole 10, a hook member 14 of any suitable configuration is formed. It is also possible to have a closed rope loop secured to the end of the pole instead of the hook since the sole purpose for the hook or rope loop would be to engage a projection on the dock as the boat approaches the dock. The pole 10 may be of any desirable length and should be of sufficient length to enable a person to remain within the safety of the cockpit of the boat and still engage a projection on the dock without having to lean out unduly far-0r having to bring the boat under power precariously close to the dock.

A rope guiding and locking device 16 is mounted intermediate the ends of the pole 10 at any suitable position. It has been found acceptable to mount the device 16 approximately midway between the ends of the pole or slightly toward the end having the hook thereon. The rope guiding and locking device 16 is comprised of a housing having two spaced-apart plates 18 and 20. The pole 10 may be secured to the plate 20 by any suitable means such as welding, riveting, nuts and bolts or the like. The two plates 18 and 20 are spaced-apart by means of spacers 22, 24 and 26 at each comer of the plates. An additional spacer 28 is provided between the spacers 24 and 26 with sufficient spacing therebetween to provide an inlet and outlet for the rope 34. The spacers 22-28 may be welded at opposite ends to the top and bottom plates 18 and 20. The spacers may be in the form of bolts extending through the plates and a suitable intermediate hollow spacer sleeve and secured by means of suitable nuts. Further rotatable sleeves may be provided about the spacer sleeves to facilitate the passage of the role 34 into and out of the device 16.

A pulley assembly is rotatably mounted between the housing plates 18 and 20 and is comprised of a pair of spaced-apart circular discs 36 and 38 which are secured to a central shaft 40 journaled'at opposite ends in the plates 18 and 20. Three identical pulleys 42, 44 and 46 are rotatably mounted between discs 36 and 38 for rotation about three equally spaced shafts 48, 50 and 52 which extend between the plates 36 and 38. The pulleys are freely rotatable about the shafts and the grooves therein are wide enough to receive only a single strand of rope but are deep enough to receive two strands of rope therein.

A lever 54 is secured to one end of the shaft 40 and is provided with a knob 56 on the free end thereof. A locking pawl 58 is pivotably mounted on the plate 18 for rotation about the pin 60. The pawl 58 is provided with a suitable finger engaging tab 62 and a reentrant type groove 64 for receiving the knob 56 securely therein. At a point substantially diametrically opposite the pin 60, a lever stop pin 66 is secured to the plate 18.

In performing a docking operation utilizing the boat docking device according to the present invention, a person in the boat simply grasps the pole by means of the grip 12 and reaches out to engage the hook 14 with any suitable projection on the dock such as a post, ring or the like. At this stage, the lever 54 will be disposed in engagement with the pin 66 and the pulleys will be located in the position shown in FIG. 2. With the pulleys in this position, the rope 34 is secured at one end 35 to the boat by any suitable means and passes freely between the spacers 28 and 26 over the pulleys 42, 44 and 46 and outwardly between the spacers 24 and 28. Thus, as the person reaches out to engage the clock, the rope can move freely through the device 16. Once engagement is made with the dock, the person in the boat then grabs the end 33 of the rope 34 and pulls in the slack in the rope as the boat is pulled close to the dock by means of the person in the boat pulling on the pole 10. Once the boat is securely against the dock and all the slack in the rope is pulled through the device 16, the person merely flips the handle 54 in a counterclockwise direction to rotate the pulleys from the position shown in FIG. 2 to the position shown in FIG. 3. The locking pawl 58 is then pivoted into engagement with the knob 56 and the rope will be secured against movement through the device 16 by means of frictional engagement upon itself where the two' strands pass over the pulley 44. The force of the rope tending to rotate the pulley assembly in the clockwise direction will keep the knob 56 of the handle 54 securely engaged in the reentrant type groove 64 of the locking pawl 58. Thus, with the boat securely held to the dock, it is now safe to load and unload passengers and supplies to and from the boat. Once the initial docking operation is completed, additional lines may be secured between the boat and the dock in the conventional manner.

A modified form of the pulley arrangement is shown in FIG. 5 wherein only two pulleys are used instead of the three as in the previous embodiment. In FIG. 5, two pulleys 70 and 72 are provided which are identical to the pulleys described in the previous modification. Pulleys 70 and 72 are journaled for rotation about shafts 74 and 76 between two spaced-apart plates as in the previous embodiment. The two pulleys may be located substantially diametrically opposite each other so that when the pulleys are in the position as shown in solid lines in FIG. 5, the rope 34 will pass freely around the two pulleys 70 and 72. Upon operation of an external control lever similar to the lever 54 in the previous embodiment, the pulley unit will be rotated to bring the pulleys and 72 into the phantom line position shown in FIG. 5 wherein two segments of the rope 34 are engaged in the grooves of the pulley 72 to frictionally restrain the passage of the rope through the device. Thus, the embodiment shown in FIG. 5 operates in an identical manner with respect to the previous embodiment with the exception that only two pulleys are used instead of three. The pull housing, operating handle and locking pawl described with respect to the first embodiment may be used with the second embodiment. In both embodiments all of the parts of the rope guiding and locking device may be made of a non-corrosive metal material. It is obvious that all or selected parts of the device may be made of plastic material. The pole 10 may be made of wood or plastic and the grip may be of any suitable material such as rubber, plastic or the like.

While the invention has been particularly shown and described with reference to preferred embodiments thereof, it will be understood by those skilled in the art that various changes in form and details may be made therein without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What is claimed is: I

l. A boat docking device comprising an elongated pole having engaging means on one end thereof and a rope guiding and locking device secured to said pole intermediate the ends thereof; said device comprising housing means, disc means rotatably mounted in said housing, at least two pulley means rotatably mounted on said disc means and operating means for rotating said disc means between a first position wherein a rope entrained about said pulley means wili be freely movable and a second position wherein said rope entrained about said pulley means will be frictionally restrained from movement by engagement with itself as it passes about one of said pulley means.

2. A boat docking device as set forth in claim 1 further comprising locking means on said housing for holding said operating means in said second position.

3. A boat docking device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said pulley means is comprised of only two pulleys located substantially diametrically opposite each other on said disc means.

4. A boat docking device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said pulley means is comprised of three pulleys mounted approximately apart on said disc means.

5. A boat docking device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said engaging means is comprised of a hook secured to one end of said pole.

6. A boat docking device as set forth in claim 1 further comprising spaced-apart guide means on said housing means for guiding a rope to and from said pulley means.

I i \II I t 

1. A boat docking device comprising an elongated pole having engaging means on one end thereof and a rope guiding and locking device secured to said pole intermediate the ends thereof; said device comprising housing means, disc means rotatably mounted in said housing, at least two pulley means rotatably mounted on said disc means and operating means for rotating said disc means between a first position wherein a rope entrained about said pulley means will be freely movable and a second position wherein said rope entrained about said pulley means will be frictionally restrained from movement by engagement with itself as it passes about one of said pulley means.
 2. A boat docking device as set forth in claim 1 further comprising locking means on said housing for holding said operating means in said second position.
 3. A boat docking device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said pulley means is comprised of only two pulleys located substantially diametrically opposite each other on said disc means.
 4. A boat docking device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said pulley means is comprised of three pulleys mounted approximately 120* apart on said disc means.
 5. A boat docking device as set forth in claim 1 wherein said engaging means is comprised of a hook secured to one end of said pole.
 6. A boat docking device as set forth in claim 1 further comprising spaced-apart guide means on said housing means for guiding a rope to and from said pulley means. 